Hello Vietnam!
Biking around the Mekong Delta is my first, post-pandemic adventure. It is not my usual Europe-centric, history-focused travel. I have never been to Asia before.
Vietnam in 2022 is the cycling bookend to my last trip in 2019, a bike and barge tour through Belgium and the Netherlands with my friend Kathy. Our biking guide on that trip was a Dutchman named Fred. It is Fred who has enticed us on this new adventure, even snagging Kathy’s husband Bob to join in.
It’s almost midnight when Kathy, Bob and I land in Ho Chi Minh City. Late November. We have a few days to acclimatize before our tour begins, and to see a few urban sights before pedalling off into the countryside.
After cabbing from the airport, we walk around our downtown HCMC hotel. The narrow alleyways are crowded and loud. The World Cup is on and football plays on huge screens outside and inside every bar, along with pumping music. But soon our travel adrenaline subsides and the sensory overload becomes too much. We head back to the hotel to try to sleep.
Ho Chi Minh City Sights
After a few hours of rest, we discover breakfast at the Hungry Pig in the next alley over. There are three types of bacon – pine smoked, hoisin and maple! Delicious. Not Vietnamese food but comfort for our jet-lagged stupor. There will be plenty of opportunities to be adventurous with food to come. For now we will savour the coffee, English muffins, and the bacon!
Scooter City
Soon we are walking towards the historic centre of HCMC to get a feel for the city. Scooters and motorcycles dominate the streets. We are overwhelmed just trying to cross the streets safely. During a downpour we hide out in a store. Now we also have to dodge puddles the size of ponds. Tomorrow, we vow, we’ll take taxis.
Global Culture
Before coming I had wondered about interest in the World Cup – did Vietnam participate? And is Christmas on the radar? The mash-up in the window of the Saigon Centre/Takashimaya Mall is the answer.
If dropped down inside the mall I would not know what country I’m in. Black Friday sale signs (it’s worldwide now) are in most of the stores (The Gap, Nike, etc.) but doing the math the prices are almost equivalent to home. Could the average Vietnamese person afford these?
Glimpses of Saigon
Ho Chi Minh City is a mix of old Saigon and new megalopolis, east meets west meets south meets north. A global super city with pockets of local flavour clinging to life.
We head back to our own neighbourhood for a late lunch of chicken and noodles, and a much needed nap. We pick up supplies of beer, bananas, yogurt at local stores. We meet a few others from our group, who’ve also come into town early. For dinner we go down the next alleyway and I have the Pho Bo.
Saigon Botanical Gardens and Zoo
Second day – After a WakenBacon (mmm) at the Hungry Pig, true to our vow we take a taxi to the Zoo. In the front passenger seat I have an excellent view of how traffic in HCMC flows. Everyone weaving in and out and around, never stopping, sometimes slowing. It all works, if you pay attention.
Green Space
My desire to visit the Botanical Gardens, was as an escape from the heat, strolling serenely amongst exotic botanical gardens. A green oasis in a busy city.
I wonder if this man on his phone realizes how much he is mirroring the frog? Is this deliberate? He seems absorbed by his phone call. It is hard to decide.
Bygone Days
But the gardens are the backdrop for an old style zoo with sad animals (if I may project this human emotion onto the beasts). Everything has seen better days, especially the infrastructure. These large tigers are majestic but their pen is not.
We take another taxi to the Reunification Palace, a 50s palatial residence, with many mid-century rooms and war bunkers in the basement.
After a lunch of fried rice at a cafe in the palace complex, we attempt a third taxi but strike out. It is a hike back to the hotel in the heat. At least we are getting better at crossing the streets. Time for another nap.
Remnants of War
Day three morning and we are at the Hungry Pig again. Well, there are three types of bacon.
We taxi to the War Remnants Museum. The Vietnam/American War was part of the background noise of my childhood. My personal connection with it in Canada was hearing about the American draft dodgers my father dealt with as an Immigration Officer. And until my visit, it is the dominant image of Vietnam for me.
Absurd and Bold
Remnants isn’t a word we’d use in the west for a war museum. We’d use some form of Remembrance I think. But in the courtyard there are indeed an array of the military remnants the Americans left behind – fighter planes and tanks. Inside are displays of the emotional and physical scars.
We start in the Historic Truth room. Interesting label. As someone who has studied a lot of history, I find that both absurd and bold. The room contains a history of the struggles, starting with the French in the 1850s. There are two rooms about the devastating and ongoing disaster of Agent Orange.
Worth a Thousand Words
My favourite room holds the photos and stories of the journalists who covered the war. There were Americans, French, Vietnamese and Australians risking their lives to show the world what was happening here. It was the first war brought into homes all over the world every day.
I find the perfect souvenir for my Vietnamese biking adventure in the gift shop.
More Remnants of War
Our tour officially begins. We head out in a mini bus to the Cu Chi Tunnels north of HCMC. Many older tourists from the west come to Vietnam to discover the remnants of the war. So here we see the tunnels the local people hid and lived in during the war. There were also many tunnel traps for the American soldiers. As a mother of a son, my heart goes out to those young men sent to the slaughter here for political whims. And to the locals forced to live in tunnels.
Leave the War Behind
Beyond the trees somewhere the sounds of guns are going off continually. There is a firing range because apparently some visitors want to pretend they’re in the war? Adding to the sinister ambiance, thunder rumbles like bombing in the distance.
We leave the war behind and head back to HCMC. We dine as a group, 12 Canadians, our Dutch leader Fred, and our Vietnamese tour guide, Nhi. We get to know each other and get excited about our coming three week cycle around the Mekong Delta.
Now here it is – your Moment of Mosaic
A planter from the War Remnants Museum courtyard.
